Trump signs $700 billion military budget into law

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump today signed into law a sweeping defense policy bill that authorizes a $700 billion budget for the military, including additional spending on missile defense programs to counter North Korea's growing nuclear weapons threat.

But there's a catch. The $700 billion budget won't become reality until lawmakers agree to roll back a 2011 law that set strict limits on federal spending, including by the Defense Department – and they haven't yet.

The law caps 2018 defense spending at $549 billion.

Before he signed the bill at the White House, Trump called on Congress to "finish the job" and eliminate the cap on defense spending.

He urged Democrats in Congress to quit threatening to shut down the government and "send clean funding and a clean funding bill to my desk that fully funds our great military. Protecting our country should always be a bipartisan issue, just like today's legislation."

Temporary government funding is set to run out on Dec. 22, the deadline for lawmakers to send the White House a broader government funding bill or risk a partial government shutdown.

Many Republicans favor easing the caps for defense spending only. Democrats also want increases in other government spending.